“I mean, when you’re winning, you can celebrate,” he said. They’d earned the right to clown on their opponent. Smarting from the ugly loss, Barton had no problem with the preening. “They’re out there laughing, dancing around,” Morris said. While Green celebrated at mid-court after his bucket, Curry found his vintage shimmy on a finger-roll with 3:17 left in the third. Meanwhile, as overwhelming as the treys from Curry, Poole and Thompson were, Draymond Green’s third-quarter triple stung just as badly because of how emboldened the non-shooter was. “If we’re fragmented, if we’re breaking off into groups or individuals, then we have zero chance of winning a game in this series.” “Just find a way to stay together no matter what’s going on, good or bad, find a way to stay the course, stay together, because that’s the only chance we have to be competitive in this series,” Malone said. Nuggets coach Michael Malone could only hope his team would come out whole ahead of Thursday’s Game 3 in Denver. It was as if a realization set in that Denver’s beleaguered and battered team didn’t have the weapons to compete with a full-strength Warriors squad. Morris and Jamal Murray intervened before anything physical materialized, but the spat was the first public signal of something snapping within a team that’s known for powering through adversity. Not in that environment, against a white-hot team, and already facing the talent disparity at hand. Whatever it was, and Cousins appeared to initiate it, the last thing Denver needed was a crack in the foundation. It was amid their relentless run, with 6:14 left in the third quarter and the Nuggets down 72-62, that Barton headed into a timeout and was met by Cousins’ verbal joust. “We were right there in the game, and like you just said, you look up and then they go on huge runs and we’re getting helter-skelter and everything - we’re all over the place on offense, we’re not in the right places on defense, and the game just gets out of control,” Barton said. The Nuggets folded under the weight of them, losing their offensive structure and internal composure as a result. There were seven 3-pointers in total, each one feeling more powerful and punishing than the last. Miscommunications and perimeter breakdowns reared its head, exposing a window into season-long issues that Morris said needed to be worked out months ago. Through two games of this lopsided series, Golden State’s made the compelling argument their dominance might not be done.ĭropping their discipline amid the chaos, the Nuggets fouled three separate 3-point shooters in the quarter alone. The Nuggets wilted under the same rush of energy that’d buried so many other teams during the Warriors’ dynastic run. It was the 44-point third quarter tidal wave that drowned them. “If we’ve got any pride, we’ve got to find out real soon because it’s not going to get no easier for us.” “We’ve got to figure it out, because getting swept again, not a good look for nobody, and it’s embarrassing,” Morris said. Steph Curry, Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson accounted for 84 points and 13 3-pointers to match Denver’s entire total beyond the arc.Īnd then came the first public suggestion of where this series could be headed. Now down 2-0 and facing a team whose confidence is tipping over the edge, there was talk of pride, of accountability, of splintering and of succumbing to an avalanche authored by the Warriors’ trio of lethal shooters. “I can’t let that happen in the series, in the playoffs, in the game. “Just some goofy (expletive) that happened on the bench that I shouldn’t entertain,” Barton said. Michael Porter Jr.And then there was the public in-fighting between Will Barton and DeMarcus Cousins that suggested a fraying fabric amid the Nuggets’ tight-knit locker room. Jamal Murray – (left knee injury recovery) – Out Here’s when you should tune in to see the game: Date: Thursday, April 21 Will he opt to start all three guards, or will he bring Curry or Poole off the bench? Game three could provide answers.īefore the Warriors travel to the mountains to meet Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets, here is everything you need to know about the contest, including how to watch. With Curry looking healthy after dropping 34 points in 23 minutes, Steve Kerr will have to make some decisions with his starting lineup in game three. If you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.Īlthough Steph Curry came off the bench for the second consecutive contest, the Warriors’ new-look backcourt trio featuring the two-time Most Valuable Player, breakout star Jordan Poole and sharpshooter Klay Thompson exploded for 84 combined points in game two. After sealing a 2-0 lead in the first-round series over the Denver Nuggets with a blowout win in game two on Monday, the Golden State Warriors will hit the road for the first time in the postseason on Thursday.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |